


Breathe Again

by redtribution



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Angst, Anonymous prompt, F/M, Fluff, Keenler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 08:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3761137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redtribution/pseuds/redtribution
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ressler confesses his feelings to Liz. For an anonymous prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe Again

Ressler was upset with Liz. She could tell.

His expression was surly. His brows pulled together, puckering the pale skin between his eyes. His grip on the steering wheel of the SUV was hard enough to whiten his knuckles. As the radio switched to a slow song, Liz sighed.

“Alright, spill it,” she said, looking straight out the front window.

“Hmm?” Ressler said tensely. Liz glanced at him. His gaze remained on the road, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

“You’re mad at me. Why?” Liz said dully.

“I’m not mad.”

“You’re mad. I can tell.”

“How can you—”

“I just can. Tell me,” she said. On any other day, she might blow him off; expect him to deal with his annoyance on his own. Today, however, was different. They had just wrapped up a case, caught the bad guy. They should have been celebrating, or at the very least congratulating each other. The tense silence in the SUV was deafening.

Ressler clenched his jaw. “I don’t know what you want from me, Keen. You want me to tell you how I feel? You wanna be my shrink?”

Liz shot him a bewildered look, which he ignored. “What’s gotten into—?”

“Why did you run after that guy back there? I was clearly tied up.” Ressler burst out.

Liz stared. “Um, because that’s my _job._ I run after the bad guys regardless of your personal discomfort, Ressler.”

Ressler made a scathing noise. “I wasn’t _uncomfortable._ I was scared out of my mind, Keen! You can’t just go running off by yourself like that. You had no backup. I had freaking _ropes_ around my wrists. I couldn’t—” he broke off with a frustrated sigh.

Liz shook her head. “You’re unbelievable. So if I were tied up, I should expect you to abandon our target until you untied me?”

Ressler was silent.

“Oh, I get it,” she said, annoyed. “So, you can do the job the way it’s supposed to be done, but because I’m a _woman—”_

“That’s not—why would you—I never said that!” He was shouting now.

“Oh, I think you did.”She countered, her voice rising.

“Damn it, Keen, be professional!”

“Professional? _Professional?_ Oh, that is _rich._ I was being professional. I did my _job,_ and because you didn’t get the chance to chase the bad guys down, now you’re complaining.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to—”

“Donald Ressler, always the hero. Well, I’ve got news for you pal: I can do this job. I know I haven’t been at it for long, but I’m DAMN good and you know it. So why don’t you take your hero complex and shove it—”

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I’m sorry.” Ressler said.

Liz slumped back in her seat and folded her arms over her chest. When the silence became too much to bear, she reached over to the center console and turned the radio up. The opening bars of Sara Barreilles’ _Breathe Again_ filled the void of sound in the car.

_“Car is parked, bags are packed,_

_But what kind of heart doesn’t look back?”_

Liz shut her eyes. She felt bad for telling him off. The truth was, she had been scared today, too. In the course of the chase, Ressler had been captured and tied up. If Liz hadn’t arrived when she did, it was likely that he would have been killed. She took a slow, deep breath to steady herself.

_“All I have, all I need_

_He's the air I would kill to breathe_

_Holds my love in his hands_

_Still I'm searching for something_

_Out of breath, I am left hoping someday_

_I'll breathe again, I'll breathe again.”_

Liz glanced over at Ressler, only to find that his eyes were not on the road, but rather on her. His expression was strangely open and pained. When he caught her looking, he glanced away.

_“Hang my head, break my heart_

_Built from all I have torn apart_

_And my burden to_ _bear_

_Is a love I can't carry anymore.”_

Liz took a breath. “Hey,” she said quietly.

“Yeah?” Ressler replied.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so…I’m sorry.” She glanced at Ressler.

He nodded, eyes on the road. “It’s fine.”

_“It hurts to be here_

_I only wanted love from you_

_It hurts to be here_

_What am I gonna do?”_

Liz heard a quick intake of breath from the driver’s side. Suddenly, Ressler jerked the wheel, pulling over to the side of the road with a squeal of tires. Liz grabbed the safety handle and shouted in surprise.

“Ressler! What the hell?”

“I’m sorry! Liz, this can’t wait.” He turned off the radio.

Liz furrowed her brow, releasing the handle. “What can’t wait? What’s going on?”

Ressler unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to her. His eyes burned. Liz found she was still pressed cautiously up against the back of her seat and had no intention of moving.

“Liz,” Ressler said, meeting her eye. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you before. It’s just that I love you.”

Liz’s breath escaped her all at once. When had her mouth fallen open?

“You…you _what?”_ she said.

“I love you,” Ressler said. It was blunt and bold and unvarnished: exactly like Ressler himself. “I have for a long time now. And you know what? I don’t care if you can’t say it back because I need you to know it. I was so scared back there, scared that I’d…” Ressler’s eyes sparkled with the beginnings of tears, but he made no move to look away or swipe at them. He was fiercely present. “…scared that I’d lose you. Liz, I couldn’t live without you, not now that you’ve been in my life. I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear it. I love you.”

Liz’s took a breath. She looked away from Ressler, unable to keep with the intensity of his gaze. She reached down and unbuckled her seatbelt slowly.

“No, Liz,” Ressler grabbed her arm, “don’t go—”

His hand shot sparks up her arm. Without thinking, without planning it out beforehand, she turned to Ressler, leaned in, and kissed him.

Ressler made a noise of surprise into her mouth, and Liz smiled with pleasure. She took his face in her hands, feeling the heat there. At last, he softened, his tongue finding hers.

Liz pulled back breathlessly. She smoothed down his tie with a smile.

“I love you too, you idiot,” she whispered.


End file.
